Video: Brady, Williams, & More Discuss THE WIZ on CBS SUNDAY MORNING

Wayne Brady, Schele Williams, Amber Ruffin, and more appeared on CBS Sunday Morning this week to discuss The Wiz's road to Broadway, and what makes this production different, with Kelefa Sanneh.

Brady, who recently joined the cast after the production had been on tour for months says jumping in is "like being shot out of a cannon, it's like double dutch with 30 other people on stage."

"We're actually friends and like each other outside of a theatre space, so when you find that in each other, it is so evident on stage. You can tell we like each other, there is love, that we're having fun doing this together," says Kyle Ramar Freeman, who plays the Lion, of his castmates.

Comparing this production to the film, starring Diana Ross, "My Dorothy is a little bit more of a teenager. She's just trying to figure out everything and find her voice," says Nichelle Lewis.

Director Schele Williams wanted to make sure that the musical felt timeless. "We are constantly reinforcing this idea of belonging and legacy."

While previous productions have felt like a series of vignettes, Amber Ruffin's additional book material aims to connect the dots: "To make a whole throughline, it feels like a musical."

The Wiz, now in previews, is set to open on Broadway on Wednesday, April 17, 2024, in a limited engagement at the Marquis Theatre (210 West 46th Street). 

The cast will include previously announced Wayne Brady to lead the production as The Wiz. The cast also includes Deborah Cox as Glinda and Melody A. Betts as Aunt Em and Evillene, Kyle Ramar Freeman as the Lion, Phillip Johnson Richardson as the Tinman, and Avery Wilson as the Scarecrow. The Wiz ensemble includes Maya Bowles, Shayla Alayre Caldwell, Jay Copeland, Allyson Kaye Daniel, Judith Franklin, Michael Samarie George, Collin Heyward, Amber Jackson, Olivia Jackson, Christina Jones, Polanco Jones, Kolby Kindle.

Featuring a book by William F. Brown and a Tony Award-winning score by Charlie Smalls (and others), director Schele Williams, award-winning choreographer JaQuel Knight, additional material by Tony-nominated and Emmy-nominated writer and TV host Amber Ruffin, Joseph Joubert (music supervision, orchestrations, & music arrangements), Allen René Louis (vocal arrangements, music arrangements), and Emmy Award®-winning music director and Grammy Award®-winning writer, Adam Blackstone (Dance Music Arranger), are conjuring up an Oz unlike anything ever seen before.  A dynamite infusion of ballet, jazz, and modern pop will bring a whole new groove to easing on down the road. 

The Wiz design team includes scenic design by Academy Award-winning Hannah Beachler (Black Panther, Beyoncé’s Black is King and Lemonade), costume design by Emmy Award-winning and two-time Academy Award-nominated Sharen Davis (Ray, Dreamgirls), lighting design by Barrymore Award-winning Ryan J. O’Gara (Thoughts of a Colored Man), sound design by Jon Weston (Parade), projection design by Daniel Brodie (Motown the Musical), wig design by Charles LaPointe (MJ the Musical) and make-up design by Kirk Cambridge-Del Pesche (The Piano Lesson, Thoughts of a Colored Man).